We're Really Not That Different
by AnEarlyEnding
Summary: What happens when you mix mental patient with a convict? Chaos! The ship has gone down and the horrors have begun. Faced with old enemy, new faces, a mysterious convict and a psycho Merc, can our mental patient survive this unnamed planet's horror fest? UPDATE: to readers, there have been changes to old chapters, so keep an eye out for them! I only own my OC Characters.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

I've never been a heavy sleeper, even in cryo-sleep. Actually, to be honest, I always found it to be harder to fall asleep and stay asleep when in the tank. Maybe that's the reason why Doc strapped me down, but I seriously doubt it. I'm strapped down because I'm a danger to myself. Apparently. It makes me laugh really. Doc thinks he knows everything there is to know about me just because he's been handed the oh-so glorious case file and he's done such _extensive_ research into my background. Not to mention all the interviews with my peers and family. Humph, what the hell does he know about me other than other people's images they've forced upon me? I wasn't the only one, though. There were three of us total. One other girl and a boy. The worst part of all this? We're all connected. The girl, Tina, and I use to be best friends. She backstabbed me and I never looked back. We hated each other back then. It didn't change over the years. The boy, Paul, my ex-boyfriend, is another story altogether. If he never existed, if we had never met, things wouldn't have turned out the way they did. Of course, I never would have met _him_ if that were the case.

There was a series of loud pops somewhere to my right. The sound of glass shattering, grunts of pain—the sound of death. I knew something was wrong, I knew long before anything started that something was going to go wrong. Helion Prime was a long ways away and a lot of things can, and will, go wrong on such a long journey. Opening my suede eyes I could see objects, maybe space rocks—meteor shards—wiz by, cutting through the steel of the ship. The captain, whose tank was diagonal from mine, was dead. _'The source of the grunts and shattered glass'_ I knew he wasn't the only one, but he was the first one I heard, the first one to die. I couldn't see everyone who had already exited their cabins but I could guess it was the crew. The only other person I could see stumbling about was the merc. Of course, everyone else thought he was a cop. I knew better. The look in his eyes, it was the same look the merc that was sent to find me when I disappeared had. Greed. Money signs flittering in front of his eyeballs. When mercs hunts you down, you're no longer a human to them. Oh, no. You're just a payday. Maybe that's why I felt so bad for the convict. I could just barely see him from where I was. A big guy. Well built in all aspects. Even covered with a black wife beater, black cargo pants, and combat boots, I could tell there were some serious muscles underneath. The chains that held him, I could laugh. There was no way in hell that those meager attachments to the cryo-tank could really keep him there. If he really wanted to, he could get out.

A loud clang next to my head brought me out of my thoughts and back to the current situation. I gasped when my binds unraveled and my door sprang open, my overall numb body falling to the floor roughly. Unlike the other passengers, I was doped up on anesthesia. Unfortunately for the Doc, he didn't give me a high enough dosage to knock my ass out—only enough to make it impossible for me to run again. I could only guess that I was lucky, the object that flew through my compartment didn't go through my head, though I can't say I would have minded much. Well, that's not entirely true. I don't give up easily. To me, life is nothing but a game and I hate to lose. However, be that as it may, I still was unable to lift or otherwise move myself from where I lay. I couldn't even move my arms to grab onto something when the opposite wall of the ship was ripped clear off. I noticed the merc leap forward and grab onto the post behind him. Me on the other hand, I wasn't so lucky. The whole room had become a giant vacuum. Anything that wasn't firmly set in place was getting whisked off into the orange tinted wilderness that lay just outside the ship. I heard it before I felt it. The metal grating against metal, the sound that made my ears want to bleed. It got louder and louder and before I knew it there was a sharp pain in my head and everything around me, all the sounds and the all sights, faded to black.

When I woke up, I was lying in the same place I fell. I could feel the pounding migraine hammering behind my left eye. It wasn't until I reached a shaky hand up to my forehead that I realized I could move again. I slowly eased myself into a sitting position. _'Baby steps, Hailz, baby steps' _I told myself. Glancing around, I took in the devastation. A good half of the ship was missing and most of the former passengers of the ship were gone. The other containers were either sideways , still standing, or face down. It scared me a little to see that some of the remaining containers were leaking blood. Speaking of which, I could feel myself bleeding actually. Giving myself a once over I realized my left arm had a pretty good gash in it. I was lucky once again, I guess. The gash had barely missed my vitals on my wrist. Of course, I knew this wouldn't look good for the Doc, but I couldn't worry about him at the moment. My only thought was getting this piece of shit wound to stop bleeding. The bad thing about anesthesia, it thinned my blood. For someone who has Von Willebrandt's disease, thinned blood could mean death.

"Fuck!" I swore, my eyes searching for anything that I could wrap the wound with. In my tank were the remains of my restraints. Not the softest material, but it would have to do for the moment. I grabbed it hurriedly , ripping it down off the hooks. Once I had torn the white cloth into strips, I expertly wrapped my wound. _'You have to be an expert if you've done this as many times as I have'_ I mused morbidly to myself. Once that was taken care of, I hauled myself to my feet, being sure to cling to the open door of my compartment—the only thing that had kept me from being flung out of the ship. I winced as I glanced towards the outside of the ship. It was incredibly bright and I could feel the heat wafting into the metal remains. I could faintly hear movement towards my left, also the voice of my doctor, Herald S. Crawford—one of the biggest pains in my ass. I glanced back and forth between the voices and outside before deciding I'd rather take my chances outside. I honestly didn't feel like dealing with people at the moment.

Sand. Sand and dunes for as far as the eye could see in three different directions. The last direction (though I couldn't tell you which) had strange spire-like structures protruding from the earth. I don't know what it was about those spires, but they gave me the creeps. I got a really bad feeling about them or whatever lay within them. I was right about the heat, too. It was blisteringly hot out. But that's not surprising really. Wanna know why? Three suns. This bloody planet had three fucking suns. I mean, what the hell? Can't a fair skinned girl catch a break? If three suns wasn't bad enough, while two were slowly setting, another was rising, this one giving off a blue hue. _'Maybe it won't be so bad.' _I thought hopefully, _'Maybe that will cool things off, not having two fireballs in the sky.'_

"There you are!" I internally groaned. Great, he found me. Doc, of course.

"Yay, you found me!" I muttered sarcastically.

"Hailey, you can't be out in the sun like this. It's not good for you, especially after a crash like that." I turned to face the middle aged man. Well, nearly middle aged. He was around forty-five or six and to be honest, wasn't that bad looking. His rich brown hair was somehow neatly combed to perfection and his tan skin was only slightly blemished with a small bruise on his right cheek. '_He must have hit it during the crash.' _I figured. The man's murky green eyes watched me carefully and seemed to be taking in my appearance as I did the same to him. His usually pristine white coat was wrinkled and had collected black sooty smudges here and there. His tie hung loosely around his neck and his once dry-clean pressed light green shirt was missing a few of its tiny white buttons. The khaki pants he wore were slightly ripped around the hems and his left pant leg, just below the knee had a dried blood on it.

"You're a mess, Doc. Sure you should be worrying about me?" I smirked. I watched the man groan and give me an annoyed look.

"You're the mess, girl." I could only imagine. My black skinny jeans had a large hole where the knee once was on my right leg and another hole just below the pocket on the thigh of my left leg. My v-neck white t-shirt had its fair share of black smudges and dried blood, from my wrist I could only guess. I could only wonder what my hair and face looked like. "What did you do to your wrist now?" he all but accused me.

Immediately, I sneered and snarled at him, causing him to visibly pale. He knew he had struck a nerve. He also knew that out of the three adolescents he decided to drag along with him, I could potentially be the most volatile. "Don't fuckin' insult me, Doc. I'm really in no mood to deal with your psycho-analytical bullshit." I growled, as I stormed passed him and back into the crash ship.

"Hailey! Hailey, please!" he called after me, following me. I entered a room that seemed to have been the former utility room. Tied to a post was the convict from the cell, his extremely muscled back facing me. I could see the bit in his mouth and the black blind fold that covered his eyes. His wrists were cuffed behind him and his feet chained to the floor. It was absolutely inhuman, even for a convict—a murder. He was still human and in the same boat as the rest of us. Stranded on some unknown, uncharted planet. I walked down the short wreckage-cluttered passage until I stood before him. "Hailey!" Doc hissed harshly, "Get away from him!"

I snapped my head in Doc's direction, which wasn't a smart idea really, but I didn't show that it only caused my head to ache more. "Why?" I asked rather deadpanned.

Doc sighed exasperatedly, however before he could respond, someone else did. Right behind me in fact. I don't startle easily, but even so, the merc gives me the creeps. "He's a murderer. He's dangerous. So I suggest you do as you're told and get going." The man slipped around me so I could finally get a good look at him. He wore the standard blue vest and pants of a cop, badge, hat and all. Under his vest was a white long-sleeve t-shirt. His sandy blonde hair was ruffled and his icy blue eyes sharp.

"Even so, you honestly believe that it's right to chain him up like some kind of dog?" I spat at him, my eyes narrowing.

"He's an animal." he spat back, narrowing his eyes in a glare to match mine. The convict lifted his head and seemed to be watching us as we fought back and forth.

"Gee," I started, rather sarcastically, "looks human to me."

The merc growled and got in my face. "He'd kill you in a heartbeat, if he got the chance. I'm just trying to keep your sorry ass safe!"

I shoved the man out of my face roughly, surprising him apparently. "One, don't get up in my face like you know me. Two, no one fuckin' asked you to, asshole." Turning on my heels, I shoved Doc out of the way and disappeared further into the wreckage, the good doctor calling after me. Ignoring the man, I wandered further until I came across a sad sight. It was the last two crew members. Well, actually the last crew member cradling her fallen comrade. Cautiously walking over, I laid a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at me with tearful blue eyes. "It wasn't your fault." I told her. Her eyes watered up further and she bowed her head.

"It feels like it." she whimpered. "I-I shouldn't have—," she choked on the last part of the sentence.

"I don't know what you did or didn't do, but you can't blame yourself. Don't carry the weight of the dead." I patted her on the back and backed away from her slowly. "Take as long as you need to gather your thoughts."

There was nothing else in the wreckage other than empty tanks and dead bodies. So I chose to walk back outside. There were a number of people standing on top of the ship looking over the sandy expanse. "Feels like I'm a lung short, all of us." I heard a woman say.

"I feel like I just…ran or something." it was a child's voice, but I couldn't quite tell if it was boy or a girl. Glancing up I could only see a boy, so I assumed as much. Climbing up top, I took in the rest of the survivors. Immediately I noticed Doc and the other two patients, the Australian couple, the antiques dealer, the merc, and unfortunately my biological father. In the sand, not too far away were the holy man and his three students, humming and some shit. Religious people, I wondered how much faith they'd have by the end of things.

"There you are!" the boy cried happily, jumping down to the level I was on. He ran up to me and smiled brightly, "Doc, said you were somewhere around here! I'm Jack!" I looked him over as he waited expectantly for my answer. He was wearing khaki pants and some worn out tennis shoes. His shirt was a yellow color with brown horizontal strips. On top of that he wore a tan vest. His hair was oddly cut, though. Much like he did it himself in a hurry and shoved a tan paper-boy hat on backwards to hide the fact. He had pale skin like me and big brown eyes. _'Girlish eyes. I've know some boys to have girlish eyes, but these! I think there's more to this 'Jack' fellow than meets the eye.' _

"I'm Hailey." I replied with a gentle smile. Jack seemed delighted by my friendly demeanor and took a stand by my side.

"Good to see another person has survived." said the Australian man. He looked like he was from the west Indies with his dark skin and wiry black hair. His black eyes were friendly enough to give people a sense of reassurance even though a look of caution seemed to be etched into his face. The woman to his right, could have been his polar opposite. A gentle smile covered her face, but caution clouded her eyes. A very confusing couple if I do say so myself.

"Yes, very good to see. I am Shazza and this Zeke." she commented, waving me up to stand with the rest of them. However, I shook my head, stating didn't have enough energy to climb up the rest of the way. To make my point I sat down where I was.

The other guy, the antiques dealer nodded in my direction, "That's a nasty cut you got there on your forehead. You're lucky to be alive. The name's Paris." His glasses were cracked horizontally twice on his right lens and his clothes were rather odd. He looked light he was wearing a bathrobe and stripped pajama pants.

I snorted at the comment, "Heh, certainly a change." I nodded out towards the holy man and the kids, "Who are they?"

"Shouldn't you ask my name?" the merc snapped, a thin smile taking over his features to show his annoyance. "It's only polite."

"We've met." I stated blandly.

"The names Johns." he said rolling his eyes.

Ignoring him, I asked again, "Who are they?"

Jake answered me this time. "That's Imam and his boys. The little one is Ali, then there's Hassan and Suleiman." All I did was nod. Jake turned to me suddenly, "I heard you met Riddick!"

"Who?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

Jake looked at me like I was asking a dumb question. "You know, the guy tied up below us! His name's Riddick!"

Turning a hateful eye on Johns, I nodded, "Oh, you mean the 'animal'?" I sneered. Johns glared at me, but didn't say anything.

Everyone noticed the tension between the two of us. It was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. "So, what about the other four? Don't you wanna know who they are?" Shazza asked, changing the subject.

"Already do, sadly." I muttered. No one said anything after that. Sometimes I really love silence, honestly, I do. At that moment, however, I wasn't a fan. So, I got up, slid off the wreckage and wandered over to the storage hold.

"Where are you going?" Doc called out.

"Does it matter?" I countered. I heard the man sigh, but he didn't push it further. Not that I cared really. The door to the unit wasn't locked and it was easy enough to push aside. Well, enough so I could slip through. The lights were out, which sucked, but I didn't care. I knew where I was going. The good doctor had gotten a locker not too far from the entrance for our shit. I didn't bring much, enough to fit in a small off the shoulder bag. It was all that I owned to be perfectly honest. The hospital I was institutionalized in had provided me with the bare essentials. Finding the locker I shoved the door open and walked into the dark room. I hated the feeling of not being able to see. My hearing is incredibly good, which is not always a good thing. There are some things people just shouldn't hear. _'Good thing I strapped my bag to wall beside the door, then.'_ I happily mused to myself as I grabbed the black bag and pulled door shut once again. Turing around, I came face to face with Paul. His black curls stuck our wildly and his blue eyes stared down coldly into my own suede blue. Paul, the only male I'd ever admit to being frightened of, I was currently alone with in a dark storage container. "What do you want, Paul?" I snapped, backing away from the six foot two twenty year old, right into the steel door I just closed.

Paul leaned forward, his left arm blocking me from slipping past him. "Shouldn't be wandering off by yourself." he hissed, his deep voice low. Stepping closer, he dropped his arm and grabbed my injured wrist instead, "Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself again, would we?" he asked innocently, as his grip intensified.

Pain surged through my arm, causing me flinch. The pain was dizzying and I found myself slightly light headed. Instinct took over as I rammed my elbow of my free arm into his temple, causing him to yelp and let go. Instantly, I slipped passed him and up to the door. "I have two arms, moron." With that I took off, just as everyone else started coming in.

Doc stepped in front of me, "Where are you going now? You can't be running off on your own."

"None of your damn business!" I snapped at the man. I knew I was being difficult with him, but personally I didn't care. It was his own fault for involving _him_.

"Hailey, you should respect your elders. He's only trying to help you. We all are." That's who I'm talking about. Mr. Micah J. Rudino. My biological father. His hazel eyes stared degradingly down at me. His pale skin was flushed from too much sun and his short obnoxiously styled jet black hair had bits of debris stuck in the gelled spikes.

His comment though, it really pissed me off. Getting right up in his face, I snarled, "Help? When have you ever helped me? Try not to lie to yourself too much. You might actually start believing it."

I was half way back the ship when someone else stepped in front of me once again. _'Really? This is getting rather annoying_.' Her raven hair, perfect as ever, hung around her shoulders and down her back. Her hateful brown eyes looked at me in disgust. Funny, that was my current expression. "Get out of my way, Tina." I sighed, not in the mood to deal with Asian girl's shit.

"Don't you mean _my_ way? If you hadn't noticed I was walking here." she chirped like a little bitch.

"You're wasting my time." I commented dryly.

"I think it's the other way around." she scoffed, "Why don't you run along now, little girl." She gave what she apparently thought was a cute laugh and walked around me. Rolling my eyes I continued on my way to the ship. "Oh, are you going alone?" she asked me suddenly.

Turning towards her, I cocked an eyebrow. "What's it to you?"

She shrugged her slender shoulders and gave me an 'I really don't care' look, "Next time, don't miss." That's all she said. She didn't have to explain. I knew she was referring to my bleeding wrist. I shook my head and turned around, not giving her the satisfaction of a reaction. Once inside the ship I went back to where my cryo-tank was. Sitting down I opened my bag to see if I could find anything to rewrap my wound with. I found a coil of bandages at the bottom. Just as I was pulling my hand out, it bumped into something plastic. Grabbing that too, I pulled it out of the cloth confines only to smile happily at the liquid in my hand. I forgot that I had brought an extra bottle of green tea with me. I loved the stuff. I always felt so much healthier when I drank it. That got me thinking. _'I wonder if Riddick's had anything to drink?'_ It was a weird thought, I knew that. Why should I be concerned about a man that would or could kill me? _'He's still human and still has human needs.'_ That thought in mind, I got to my feet and walked back down the passageway to where he was.

Or should I say was _supposed_ to be. I was a little unnerved by the fact that he wasn't there anymore. I saw him earlier with my own eyes. He was CHAINED to the floor. Looking down I realized the restraints had been cut through with something. Glancing to my right, I could only guess it was the torch lying discarded. "Well, hot damn. He's a smart one. Not that I didn't figure he was." I muttered. Looking up at the post I realized that there was a gap in the metal. "Holy sh-!" I cut myself off as I gasped. Unless he's double jointed in the shoulders that had to have hurt a good deal. I couldn't help but reach up and touch my own shoulder as I envisioned him twisting his massive arms around in their sockets. "Geez dude, really?" Taking a step back, I felt my back collide with something very solid. I gasped and whipped around, only to once again mentally chide myself as the room seemed to spin. Two rough, strong hands caught my elbows and kept me in place. Looking up, my breath caught in my throat. Riddick. His eyes were still covered only this time with a pair of black goggles. For a moment neither of us moved. We simply stared at each other. Finally he took a step back, though his hands didn't move. It was as though he was still trying to steady me, but I don't honestly know. Slowly he let go of my elbows, never moving his gaze from my face. Well, that's what I guessed at least. I couldn't see his eyes behind the shinny plastic of the goggles. Riddick and I stood there a moment more before I finally broke the silence.

"I-I-uh-I wanted to see if you had had anything to drink since we got here." I stuttered out. Wouldn't you? I mean this guy is gorgeous! Caramel colored skin, completely muscled, chiseled chest, I'm sure, and handsomely structured face. I could only imagine what his eyes were like. _'I wish I knew…'_

Riddick raised an eyebrow at my comment. "Oh, is that so?" his voice rumbled. A smirk played at the edges of his lips, almost as if he thought it was amusing that I was concerned about him!

"Well, gee, don't you sound excited." I rolled my eyes in annoyance. I placed the water bottle filled with the green tea on the ledge next to me, never taking my eyes off Riddick. "It's tea, don't know if you like it, don't really care, but it's a hell of a lot better than nothing at all. Take it or leave it, it's your choice." I took a step back, to put more room between him and me and started to walk away.

"You should take care of that arm of yours." he commented lowly. I realized right then and there I loved the sound of it. It was so low and gravely, so sensual. It was suiting of a man of his stature.

I turned around to reply, only to realize I was alone and the bottle of tea was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Johns was pissed.

He and the others had just come back from the storage unit to find Riddick gone. I figured no one would ask me seeing as I was on the other side of the ship starring off at the strange spire structures. However, as luck would have it, Johns marched right up to me when everyone had left and slammed me down onto the metal floor, his hand firmly pressed to my neck. "Where the hell is Riddick?" he barked.

I stared at him for a moment blankly, "How the hell should I know?"

The blonde man growled and slammed my already aching head into the metal below me. "Don't…FUCKING…play games with me, girl! You were the only one here." he growled lowly, his face inches from mine.

"What? The big bad merc, scared I let his payday go?" I scoffed lightly, enjoying the fact that his whole body froze at my words. "Yes, Johns, I know you're a merc. When you've had a run in with one, you tend not to forget what it's like."

His hand tightened around my neck. I'd have bruising that much was for sure. I bruise easily, what can I say? "That doesn't answer my question." he breathed.

Grunting slightly, I managed, "I didn't help him. He was already loose." It was the truth without some minor details.

Johns realized this, the truth part that is, and released my neck. He stared at me for a moment before standing up. He offered me a hand, which I took hesitantly. Better not to anger him further. He didn't release me though. Instead, when he jerked me to my feet, he took my arm captive and twisted it behind my back. So much for having one good arm. "You shouldn't get me so angry with you, Hailey." he cooed in my ear, his hot breath brushing over my skin. His free hand grabbed my one of my boobs and gripped it painfully, "It makes me horny and we all know where that leads, right?" he chuckled as he ran his hand down my front and between my legs, his fingers pushing harshly against my jean covered warmth. I gave a gasp and tried to jerk away from him, but he only pulled my arm higher up my back, effectively stopping me. "Fighting it only makes it worse." he hissed and bucked his hips against my lower back.

"Let her go!" We jerked our heads over towards the right, finding Jack standing there with a horrified look on his face.

Johns chuckled again, but let me go, "Until next time."

I was never so thankful to see the kid in my life. As soon as Johns was a couple feet away from me, Jack ran forward and hugged me around my waist. "Are you okay, Hailey? I was worried about you! I saw that Johns and you hadn't come outside and just knew something awful was happening!"

I blinked a couple of times and stared at Jack. This was no boy. I knew it. Smiling, I sat back down on the overturned cargo unit, patting the space beside me. Jack immediately took it. "You're not a boy are you?" Straight to the point.

Jack froze, staring at me wide-eyed. "How'd you know? You're not going to tell the others, right?"

"Call it a girl's intuition and no, it's none of their business until you decide it is. Your secret is safe with me." Jack smiled brightly again and hugged me.

"Thank you!"

Everyone headed back to the storage unit and into Paris's section. The man came back out with a shit ton of weapons! Ancient weapons I might add! I was rather excited when I saw them that I stared to poke around myself.

"And what the hell are these?" Carolyn Fry, the pilot I had comforted, asked. I could only guess which one she was referring to.

"Maratha war picks from northern India. Very rare." Paris replied.

"And this?" Zeke butted in.

"That's a hunting blow-dart pipe from northern Papua New Guinea. That's very, very rare since the tribe is now extinct." Paris replied.

"'Cause they couldn't hunt shit with these things, would be my guess." Zeke commented. I had to chuckle at that. I liked Zeke. He was a good guy, with a very witty tongue.

"Well, look, what's the point anyway?" Paris started, sounding a little exasperated, "I mean if the man is gone, he's gone. Why should he bother us?"

"Maybe to take what you've got. Maybe to work your nerves. Or maybe just to come back and skull-fuck you in your sleep." Johns replied dryly, holstering the last of his guns and turning around to face the antique dealer.

I turned my head to give him a dirty look, which he didn't notice. Shazza looked disgusted, "Sounds like a charmer." she muttered in her deep drawl. I shook my head. People will believe anything a cop says and they typically can't tell the difference between a fake and a real one, 'cause they're just that trusting. _'That's what's truly disgusting.' _I noticed Jack pick up a large boomerang-looking weapon and walk passed a shocked Paris. Rolling my eyes, which I found myself doing a lot of since our crash landing, I continued to browse around.

"What are you looking for?" I heard Paris ask.

Turning slightly, "Do you have any real weapons?"

He sighed, looking a little put out. "Like what?"

I laughed a bit and patted his arm, "I didn't mean that in a bad way. I merely meant do you have something like a sword or a Katana. You travel a lot, so I figured you might have something of the sort."

Paris immediately brightened. "Actually, while I don't have either of those, what I do have is a Wakizashi. You see its—,"

"The sword of a samurai. Smaller than a katana and meant for indoor fighting." I finished for the older man. "I know. I happen to love history, especially ancient Egypt and Japan."

Paris's eyes seem to sparkle as though he saw me in a new light. "Well, you may have it then! From one history lover to another." I was surprised really. I hadn't expected that from him.

I nodded and smiled, "Thanks! Do you mind if I keep it here, though? Just for the time being? If Doc finds out you gave it to me, he'll freak out. I'd rather him not know until he absolutely needs to, if you know what I mean." Paris nodded in agreement.

"He's a bit of a stick in the mud, isn't he? You don't seem to like the other four very much." he commented.

I scoffed, "Not even a little."

Once outside, Paris and I noticed Zeke and Shazza getting the breathers hooked up and giving them to people. Jack was trying one of them out, she smiled when it worked. I was really amazed that no one else seemed to notice what I did. It didn't really bother me though. I walked over to table and Zeke helped me put mine on and showed me how to work it. "Thanks." I said, offering a smile. He returned it and nodded. Walking away I noticed Johns standing on top of the ship with an ocular glass, probably looking for Riddick.

"Imam, if we're looking for water, we should leave soon, before nightfall, while its cooler." Fry told the holy man. He nodded and turned to his youngest student.

"Ali." he said, pulling the child along, going off to find the other two.

Just then Paris came trotting over, slightly out of breath. "Excuse me. I think you should see this."

He was talking about the suns, of course. The two orange-red suns were nearly set, while the blue sun I had seen earlier had already made its way pretty nicely into the sky, overcastting everything in its shadow with a blue hue. "Three suns?" Jack asked, clearly astounded.

Everyone looked back at the two setting and the whole group sighed, so it seemed to me a least. "Bloody hell." Shazza breathed heavily.

"So much for your nightfall." Zeke shot down, glancing at Fry.

"So much for my cocktail hour." Paris muttered sadly, making me laugh lightly and pat the poor man on the back.

"How am I suppose to get any sleep if there's always a sun up?" whined Tina.

"Yeah, what kind of bullshit is this?" Paul yelled.

"The kind you suck up and deal with." I smirked. "If you want your beauty sleep so damn bad, the storage unit is always open to you."

Both glared at me and stalked off. Micah stepped forward, "You should be nicer to them. You could start over if you did." he suggested, obviously unaffected by my comment earlier. I shook my head and walked away to lean against the ship.

"We take this as a good sign!" Imam cheered, Suleiman nodded and smiling in agreement next to him. "A path, direction from Allah. Blue sun, blue water."

Zeke's expression made me want to chuckle, but I held it back so as to not offend Imam. "Ever wondered why I'm an atheist?" I literally almost choked at that. I believe in G-d but I don't think I'd take it as far as to say I received a sign. Perhaps I lost my faith a long time ago. Maybe right around the same time He lost faith in me.

Johns finally decided to rejoin the group and climbed down from the ships top. Looking in the direction of the rising sun he pointed, "It's a bit of a bad sign. That's Riddick's direction."

Fry sauntered overlooking the opposite direction, "I thought you found his restraints over there, towards sunset."

Johns looked at her like she was stupid and condescendingly commented back, "Right. Which means he went towards sunrise."

I huffed and stood next to her, placing a hand on her elbow softly when she looked down, "Don't let him talk down to you, Carolyn. It's not like you had any way of knowing." I said simply and walked towards Zeke, Shazza, and Johns.

"Zeke. Fully loaded clip. Safety's on. One shot if you spot him, ok?" Johns explained.

Zeke gave him a hesitant look as he took the gun. "Don't tell me you're going, too?"

"Yeah." Johns replied.

"What happens if Mr. Riddick spots us first?" Paris asked as he hurried towards the group.

Johns gave a sadistic smile and chuckled, "There'll be no shots." After that he simply walked away.

I walked up to the group and looked pointedly at Zeke. "Carolyn wanted you to bury her crewmates, right?" he nodded, "Do you want me to help? I'm sure it would go faster if there two people."

Zeke grinned and ruffled my already knotted hair, "Nah, go where you like. I've got the gory stuff, lass."

I turned to Shazza, but she shook her head. "I've got the little one," she said nodding off toward Jack, "You can always stay and keep watch with Paris."

Paris was already up on top of the ship making himself comfortable. "Nah, that okay. Seems like there's only enough room for one watchman."

The scouting group walked to the other side of the ship, where we left the weapons and what not. I reached for a small shiv that sat on the edge of the table. I figured I might as well keep myself safe. _'Could be anything on this planet.'_ Just as my fingers curled around the hilt a hand grabbed my wrist. "What do you think you're doing, Hailey?"

"Aw, come on, Doc! I have a right to protect myself." I tried to reason with him.

Doc merely shook his head. "You know the deal. No sharp objects."

"I'm not going to off myself." I snarled.

Doc didn't back down. "No, you're not." he simply said and took the shiv away. I couldn't help but glare at his back. I knew he believed me and I knew that he was on my side, but moment like this just made me angry. I have every right to protect myself. _Screw the stipulations! We're not even sure where we are!_

Johns and the group left not long after my encounter with Doc. Micah decided he wanted to come along, too. Of course, he said so he can help out, but I knew it was just to keep an eye on me—not that I needed one. We walked for quite awhile and frankly I was about to turn around and pop Imam in the mouth. I swear some people and their overpowering religious beliefs. He had been singing whatever the hell it was for a little over an hour and it was driving me crazy! I could tell it was annoying Fry, too, cause she glanced at me with an frustrated look, which I returned. I stopped suddenly, as my heart gave a sudden lurch.

"Hailey?" Fry asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I tried to smile reassuringly, "I'm fine." _'He's here. He's watching us.'_ I thought.

"Quiet!" barked Johns, startling everyone into silence. "Shh, shh, shh!" A few rocks behind him skittered downhill. Everyone immediately became nervous and anxious all at the same time, looking upwards at hill top. Johns whipped out his gun and took off uphill to check. Imam took his place between Fry and I, the three of us watching the man skillfully race away. Hassan and the other boys started shouting in Arabic, throwing stones uphill behind us.

"Seven stones to keep the devil at bay." Imam informed us.

Fry turned to him, "You're on a trip to New Mecca, right?"

"Once in every lifetime, should there be a great hajj. A great pilgrimage. To get to know Allah better? Yes, but to know yourself, as well."

Fry looked thoughtful and then scoffed lightly "Yeah." There was something behind that small remark. Something I feared had been the same thing she was worried about when I first encountered her.

Imam turned to her, hearing her reply, "We are all on the same hajj now." Fry did nothing but look at him with haunted eyes as he took her war pick from her. The man turned to me. "We must all look deeper within ourselves."

I huffed and shook my head, "Speak for yourself." I walked away, following the same path we had been taking. I could just barely see over the hill top. There were strange shapes that I really couldn't make out properly so far away. I jogged a little to gain some ground. That is until Johns called out for me to wait. "You don't know where you're going." he yelled down to me. I lifted a hand to block the sun so I could see both him and Fry up on the ledge.

"What's over there?" I pointed in the direction of the shapes.

"Trees, I think." he called back. "Just wait right there. Let us catch up." I did as I was told and held my spot until they all got close enough, in my opinion of course. When I reached the tops I gulped loudly. _'These aren't trees, they're bones.'_

I heard the kids cheering in the background behind me. They didn't realize it yet. However, once everyone reached the top, there was a deafening silence.

"It's a communal graveyard, perhaps," Imam suggested, "Like the elephants of Earth." Beside him Suleiman said something in Arabic. Imam translated a moment later. "He asks what could have killed so many great things."

Fry looked around, her heart clearly in her stomach, "Is this whole planet dead?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

We quickly moved off the ridge top and into the graveyard below. I couldn't help but admire the bones and wonder what kind of creatures they were. I turned my head quickly in the direction of Ali when I heard him running one of the fragmented bones against the ribcage of another. The other boys had gone on ahead. Fry had sat down and Johns joined her, handing her the glass of alcohol that was once a part of Paris's collection. Imam was with the other boys, Ali at his side by now, talking to one another in Arabic. "Probably about this place." I muttered to myself. To be honest, I really wanted to climb on top of the structures, to explore them, but I couldn't. I had too much respect for the dead creatures. There was a clanging behind me that startled me slightly. Turning around I saw Micah a few feet away moving what use to be the bones of whatever these creatures' children were. I marched over to him, pushing him away from the mass of bones. "What's wrong with you? Don't you have any respect?" I snapped.

Micah looked at me in disdain. "For these things?"

I refrained from rolling my eyes and settled for pursing my lips, "Yes, these _things?"_

The man gave a laugh and moved to hug me. "Oh, come on, Hailey! You don't actually believe they mean anything, do you? They're just dried up bones. Useless and insignificant."

I jumped away from him as if I had been burned. Hanging my head I seethed, "Useless and insignificant, huh? Just like me?"

Micah sighed, "That's not fair and you know it."

"It is fair!" I barked, "Perfectly, in fact! These bones where _children_ once! _Children_. All of these bones use to be living. They deserve respect! But, I can't expect you to feeling anything for them when you can't even feel anything for your _own_ child. You disgust me." Angry and ready to hit something I removed myself from his presence, leaving him left alone with his thoughts. Not that I figured he'd really think about anything. He wasn't the type to get sentimental. I supposed I wasted my breath, but I had to say something. Sure I had my own respect issues, but I knew when it was due and I hated to see anyone not give respect where it was deserved. Living or dead.

"Hailey?" Turning my head I saw Imam, Fry and Johns watching me carefully. "You okay?"

"No." I stated, "I'm going back to camp. Make sure _that_ goes with you." I gestured towards Micah, who was just now coming up. No one questioned me either. Just did as I asked and pulled Micah along until they disappeared from my view. I heaved a sigh and turned back towards camp. However, I didn't get very far. A hand slapped itself over my mouth and I felt myself being dragged backwards under one of bone masses.

"Shhh." As soon as I felt the rumble reverberate through my back, I relaxed. Riddick slowly led me backwards, to the far back, spine area of the bones. He let go briefly to pick me up, setting me up on the upper ledge. He motions for me move back, to which I gave him a strange look, but complied anyway. The large man jumped up, pulled me to him and laid me flat, placing his own body over mine. I didn't understand his actions and frankly the only thing I could think of was how close his face was to mine and how much I purely enjoyed his body over mine. _'Can't help but notice how well I seem to fit under him. Almost like I'm the perfect height for this monstrous man.'_ I shivered at the thought, causing Riddick to cock an eye brow and stare amusedly down at me. I was about to retort, when he once again covered my mouth with his hand.

"Hailey?" Paul. What was he doing out here? He was supposed to be napping with his new fuck-buddy, miss priss herself. I could hear him below us, walking around. "Damn," he scoffed, "I thought I saw her. I think this heat is getting to me. Whatever, I'll just follow the rest of them."

I couldn't wrap my mind around the situation. Why had Riddick saved me the hassle of dealing with Paul? Did he care? _'Don't be ridiculous! He's a murderer not a saint.'_ I chided myself. Riddick waited a moment before pulling himself up. The man didn't say anything, nor did he do anything. He simply disappeared, leaving me to lay on some unknown creature's spine in absolute shock. Shaking my head, I flipped over onto my stomach and up into a sitting position and proceeded to jump off. I may not have known what that was about, but I figured I should probably get back to camp. _'So much for not climbing on them.'_

Now mind you camp wasn't exactly far, but it wasn't exactly close either. I debated on whether or not I really wanted to go all the way back to camp or just hang out with Zeke since he would be on the way. _'Zeke it is!'_ I thought lazily. When I reached the dig site, he was gone. Nothing around except for the two bodies in black bags and a gigantic hole with a tarp over it. "Why is he digging a hole inside a hole? We didn't ask for catacombs. The poor man will be here all day if that's the case." I mused. The hole really bugged me though. I didn't know why exactly, but I felt like something wasn't right about it. They reminded me of the spires that surrounded me. Something was off about them, too. Walking up to the nearest one, I placed my hand on it. "Seems solid enough." I whispered and then tried knocking. I laughed at that. "Really, Hailey, did you really just knock on rock?" I shook my head at my own antics. It wasn't until that moment that I realized how quiet it was. Too quiet.

BANG! BANG-BANG!

I jumped visibly and took off for the crash site, the source of the gunshots. Either Riddick had been spotted or there was trouble. The closer I got the more voices I could here. I heard Jack over everyone else though, "It was just somebody else from the crash!" she yelled. I noticed Zeke bend over the now dead individual who I couldn't see. He said something, which got them all muttering.

"What the hell is going on?" Tina all but screamed, coming out of the storage unit. Doc followed her closely.

"Yes, please someone enlighten the two of us."

"Three." I corrected, as I reached them.

Everyone jumped as I arrived. Jack sprang from Shazza's side and threw her arms around my waist. "We heard a noise and thought it was Riddick, but it was only another survivor." she told me, completely unsettled. "Only another survivor." I rubbed her back softly and held her to me.

Zeke turned towards me, his face pale, "I didn't know. I swear I didn't know." he muttered.

Doc stepped forward and patted the man on the shoulder, "It was an honest mistake. You were just trying to protect the rest of us. We understand." Zeke stared at the man for a moment before nodding slowly. For all the trouble I caused the man, I had a lot of respect for him. He had been there for me when no one else was, when the people I needed either didn't come or weren't allowed to see me. He believed me when I told him the truth, which is the only reason I'm not in Riddick's position.

"Looks like you're going to need help after all." I said to Zeke, who looked back at me. "Let me help you this time."

Shazza wrapped her arms around the man's neck and agreed, "Let her help you, Zeke. I would do it, but I have to stay here and finish what I started."

All Zeke did was nod and hug her back. I looked down at Jack who was watching them closely, a small smile on her lips. Jack turned her gaze on Paris, who had decided to sit down and was trying to breathe again. Doc had moved over next to him, talking quietly. Tina huffed and glared at Jack when she looked at her. "What the hell are you staring at, brat?" she snipped.

Immediately, I pulled Jack behind me and growled menacingly at her, "Don't you dare talk to him like that! He didn't do anything to you!"

Rolling her brown eyes she turned that bitch look toward me, "Or what? You going—,"

I didn't let her finish. By now the entire group was looking at us warily, Doc already on his feet and ready to spring into whatever action it took to separate us. I stalked right up to her, causing her to flinch and take a step back. "I'll rip that snotty-ass tongue right out of your filthy little mouth." I hissed. I felt a small hand wrap around my good wrist and gently pull me backwards. I knew it was Jack and maybe that's the only reason why I backed off at all.

"Come on, Hailey." Jack whispered, "Come on."

I turned around swiftly, startling Jack and placed a hand lightly on the back of her neck as I walked over to the table everyone left out in front of the ship. There were a couple of rags sitting there. I grabbed the first one I saw and started to clean the specks of blood off Jack's face and arms. "I'm sorry, kid. I shouldn't have lost my temper like that." I apologized after a minute.

Jack laughed and shook her head, "Why are you sorry? I only pulled you away, because Doc told me to. Why don't you to get along? I heard what Micah said earlier. Were you friends once?"

I shrugged uncaringly, getting the last of the drops off her neck, "It was a long time ago and it's a long story for another time. Right now, I want you to go back and help Shazza while I go take care of things with Zeke, okay?" Jack smiled and turned around to head off that way. "Oh, and Jack!" I called. She turned around toward me. I smirked at her, "Try not to give Paris a heart attack okay? The fellow just might drop dead after what just happened." Jack giggled, but nodded anyway and ran off.

"How'd you know?" I heard Zeke ask me from behind. I turned towards him and cocked my eyebrow. "That she scared him earlier?"

I shrugged and walked over to him, grabbing one of the handles to the sled. "I'm just very observant. I saw the hesitant look he gave Jack when he suddenly sprang forward to give me a hug. People don't get finicky around others unless there's a really good reason. Plus, Jack is incredibly mischievous. It wouldn't surprise me that he did something to the poor bloke. Poor Paris makes it a bit too easy." I replied laughing as we dragged the sled with the additional body towards the dig site.

"Well, I get the feeling it's a really good thing we've got you on our side." Zeke muttered. I didn't know if that was to me or to himself.

"What makes you say that?" I asked anyway.

He didn't answer until we reached the top of the hill where the tarp was. He let go of the handle and faced me. "Well, it just seems like you have a lot of self control for someone your age. And you're absolutely right! You are very observant, very perceptive. It's the people who pay attention to the little things you gotta worry about. They're the ones that can get under your skin and into your head." he said with a smile. "And that's a good thing to have on your side." I smiled back. It was nice to have someone who didn't find it weird or creepy. Someone who didn't call me a freak. "You're not afraid of dead bodies, are you?" Zeke asked, looking at the body on the sled and then at the two by the pillar a few feet away.

Afraid of dead bodies? After everything I had been through? I shook my head, "As long as they don't come back to life, I think we'll be okay."

Zeke grinned, "Well, in that case, would you mind dragging the other two over here? If they're too heavy, let me know and I'll switch with you." I nodded and did as I was asked. The bodies I figured were going to be heavy. That was just plain and simple. That's why when someone is trying to kidnap you or something you're supposed to use 'dead weight'. You completely go limp and throw your body to the ground. It is incredibly difficult for anyone to pull someone along when they do that. Gravity takes hold and it sucks all around. I grabbed the first bag without thinking and jumped back slightly, hissing at my now red palms. "Damn it!" I forgot they had been lying in the sun for so long that it probably was going to make the bags rather hot. "Well, toughen up!"I encouraged myself, "Ya got a job to do!" I grabbed the white rags I had brought along with me and grabbed the bag again and started dragging it.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard Zeke's blood curdling scream. Dropping the bag, I sprinted the couple of feet to the hole and jumped down. Gunshots. One right after another. His screaming only got worse and more bone chilling. There was blood all over the sandy walls, dripping slowly down on both the sand and his ankles that stuck out from the hole, kicking wildly. "ZEKE!" I screamed, jumped forward and grabbed his ankles. I pulled with all my strength backwards, but to no avail. I fell flat on my ass when his ankles suddenly slipped through my grasp. "ZEKE!" I screamed again. My heart was pounding in my chest, hammering painfully. I was on the brink of a panic attack, I knew it. _'Pull yourself together!'_ I yelled mentally. Ducking my head down and hastily bushing long chestnut [1] locks out of my face I tried to see down the dark hole, but I couldn't see anything. Nothing! It was so frustrating! I could hear strange clicking noises and his faint, pained screams, but I couldn't see enough to help. "DAMN IT!" I yelled, slamming my fist into the ground.

A hand grabbed my left arm gruffly, startling me horribly, and dragged me hurriedly away from the hole. Just in time, too. Something sharp cut into my right wrist, trying to wrap around it, but slithered off back into the darkness with a hiss and an annoyed click. Jerking my head back around I stared wide eyed at the hole. It was empty by now. There was movement at the top of the dig site, causing me to jolt my head in that direction. I breathed in amazement at the man staring back at me. "Riddick."

"ZEKE!" The tarp was ripped away from overhead and Shazza stared brokenly down at the bloody mess and me. Her head jerked up when she realized I wasn't alone. I shifted my eyes warily between Shazza and Riddick. Her heavy breathing and worry-clouded mind could only mean she probably assumed it was him who did it. I saw her muscles tense and her eyes start to cloud over with anger as they shifted between him, the bloody mess and the bone shiv in his hand.

"Riddick, run!" I yelled at him. He glanced at me quickly before taking my advice and booking it in the opposite direction.

Shazza's attention flew to me as she seethed angrily, "You're helping him? HIM?"

I shook my head wearily, "No…no, I-you don't—," But she didn't wait for my stuttered reply. In an instant she was hot on his trail. "Shazza, NO!" I yelled after her, scrambling to my feet. Only I fell back down in to the sand with a yelp. My ankle had twisted underneath me in the loose sand. "Fuck!" I rasped and threw myself back up on my feet. I was going to save him, because he'd done the same for me. Twice.

"Shazza!" I yelled after the woman as I half limped half ran in the general direction I saw both her and Riddick go. I gasped when I finally caught a glimpse of what was going on. Riddick was on the ground trying to shield his sensitive eyes and fend off both a ballistic Shazza and Johns, who was beating him with a baton.

"What did you do him?" Shazza screeched and lifted her foot again to kick the already downed man. I threw myself forward the rest of the way and blocked her foot with my wrist. There was no point in choosing a good wrist now that both were injured and at that moment I honestly didn't give a damn. "Just kill him!"

"Get a hold of yourself!" I yelled at her, putting my body between her, Johns and Riddick. I saw Jack come running up.

"Shazza, stop it!" Jack cried, grabbing a hold of the woman and pulling her back.

"Get the fuck out of the way!" Johns barked, pointing the baton in my face.

"No." I snapped right back.

Grabbing me by the throat once again, he jerked me out of the way and hit Riddick across the face, just as Shazza snapped out her foot, "Just kill 'im before he—,"

"SHAZZA!" I rasped, as I watched the man go unconscious. I kicked Johns in the side. The man yelped and released his hold on my neck. I ignored the sting of my neck and I crawled over to the large man on the sand ridden floor. I grabbed his shoulder and shook him, "Riddick? Riddick!"

"Step aside." Johns growled, clearly fed up with everything.

"He's out cold!" I yelled exasperatedly.

"Step. Aside!"Johns roared, marching forward. Jack let go of Shazza and ran for Johns.

"No!" I heard her cry out.

"Fuck you!" I spat. I watch as he swung the baton and everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4

I meant to put this in the last chapter! If you're new to the story don't worry about reading this. The last chapter I put [1] beside the hair color. If you remember her hair was originally black and white. The image in my head was the majority of her hair being black and the front of her hair (the part in front of her ears) and her bangs were going to be white. However, logically that doesn't make sense with being institutionalized. They don't allow hair dying as far as I know, so I changed her hair to chestnut. I like the rich brown hair and it works out anyway cuz it matches a character that will be later explained. Anyway that's what the [1] was about! Sorry!

Chapter Four

"You didn't have to hit her." Someone mumbled nearby. The voice sounded like Jack, but it was muffled.

There as a short pause before someone answered. "It was for her own good." That was Johns for sure, but again the voices were muffled.

"Even so, to hit a woman, place your hands on a woman, is wrong, Mista Johns." Imam commented. He sounded irritated not that it was surprising. It was against his beliefs to harm another, especially a woman.

"She was in the way and protecting a murderer. Blatantly. She was even helping him before hand." Shazza stated in a pissy tone, still angry apparently.

"How do you know that?" Jack piped up.

"Because it was her fuckin' water bottle he was carrying around." Johns shouted. If I was on my feet and well enough, I would have hit the man across the face for being so vicious towards the young girl I had grown close to.

"She was only doing what she thought was right." the holy man defended raising his voice.

"And I was only doing my job!" Johns snapped and walked away, or at least it seemed so. I couldn't really tell. I opened my eyes slowly, looking around the dark room. I was in the main cabin of the crash ship. Someone's coat was laid out over me and I realized it was Doc's.

Speaking of which, he chose to speak up. "You could have seriously injured her!" he said in a clipped voice.

"So, I choked her a little and gave her a good smack upside the head. She's still alive, ain't she?" Johns sarcastically replied.

The light in the room suddenly dimmed quite a bit. Turning my aching head over to one side, I realized just how close they were to me. Doc had shoved Johns up into a support beam with several different wires and tubes hanging down to cushion his back. "You weren't there, Johns, a couple of hours ago when she woke up flailing, unable to breathe or slow her heart rate, shaking and sweating. You weren't forced to try and hold her down as she swung her arms around wildly because she thought I was attacking her. You don't know what she's been through. The other two adolescents are here because I'm escorting them to a Juvenile Hall. She is not a delinquent. She is a victim of the monstrosities they put her through. Them and that rotten no-good-asshole of a biological father of hers. The only reason she is going into his custody is because I have no way of gaining such rights! I have no proof to indicate how inadequate of a parent he is. So before you decided to pull shenanigans like that again, think twice, you arrogant fool! Not everything is as it seems." With that Doc shoved off him and stalked off outside. I closed my eyes after that. I was unsure of what Johns would do, but I didn't want him to think that I was awake. I heard the merc sigh in annoyance and stalk outside as well.

"Alright, everyone." I heard Carolyn call out to them. "Those of you coming with me, let's get moving. Those of you staying behind, see if there's anything in the storage unit that we could possibly take with us to the settlement." The sound of pounding feet and chit-chat followed immediately after. I reopened my eyes when everything quieted down after several minutes had passed. I heard the grating noise of the storage unite being pulled, either open or closed I didn't know, and I couldn't hear Johns or Carolyn or anyone anymore. I figured at that point it was alright to get up. I swayed as I did so, being forced to cling onto the nearest object, which happened to be an open door. My head killed and my ankle felt like it was throbbing so hard it might just pop off.

"Geez, I feel like I just got hit by a semi." I muttered. Looking down at my ankle I noticed it was slightly bruised and swollen. My right wrist was wrapped tight with a white bandage, tiny spots of blood slowly but surely making themselves known. My left wrist throbbed painfully and seemed to be no better off than my right. I could tell that I was going to need more than just wrappings for either of my wrists. At the rate I was going, I might pass out from blood loss _'Should I tell Doc?_' I questioned myself, _'No. He doesn't know how to stitch up wounds. He made that clear when I first met him. I guess, if it really came down to it, I could just do it myself.'_ I reasoned. It sounded like a good enough plan. Plus, it was a widely known fact that people could stand his or her self inflicted pain better than that inflicted by others.

I gave myself a minute to get my bearings and find my center of gravity before letting go of the door and wandering off towards the front. The sun was awfully bright making me shy away from the outside and back into the welcoming darkness on the other side of the support beam Doc had thrown Johns up against. I could see the very tiny outlines of the group going back towards the dig site, so I figured the others had gone to the storage unit. _'Fine by me. I'd rather not deal with them right now.'_ Turning away from the sun I wandered down the dark hallway, only to find myself staring at Riddick. He was chained up again. This time with better chains and his arms spread eagle. _'Well, at least they gave him something to sit on this time.'_ I sighed. He turned his head in my direction, his eyes in full view. I outwardly gasped. I had never seen such beautiful eyes before. They were pitch black, but at the same time reflected in the darkness a gorgeous blue-silver color. Exquisite! _'Just like the rest of him.'_ I mused, nearly blushing at my own thoughts.

"They chained you up again." I stated as I stepped closer to him. He never took his eyes from me. His gaze was so intense I thought I might melt.

"Seems so." he rumbled softly, pulling on his restraints.

I sighed as I walked up in front of him, my fingers sliding down the silver metal. "I'm sorry." I muttered.

Riddick stared at me before cocking his head to the side, giving me a very incredulous look. "Why is it that you find yourself somewhere near me, eh? Am I really that fascinating?" he smirked, those thick lips curling upwards.

I took another step towards him, against my better judgment, slowly reaching out a hand towards his head. He didn't flinch or jerk away when my fingertips gently brushed around the area where Johns' baton must have bashed him. "I don't know." I told him honestly, running my fingers around the area again, "I really don't. Maybe you do fascinate me or perhaps it's because you're really not as bad as everyone seems to think you are. If you wanted to kill us, you would have. You would have let Paul find me. You would have let whatever it was that's in that hole just take me away. You would have let me share Zeke's fate." I watched as his eyes flashed at my words. "But you didn't."

He jerked his head away from my hand and glared at the wall, "You don't know shit about me, kid." Realizing I must have hit a nerve, I went to back up, however, Riddick leaped up suddenly, "Don't move." he growled. I was too stunned to have moved as it was. I was not expecting him to move that quickly or to move at all for that matter. I felt him run the tip of his nose from my shoulder slowly up the crook of my neck, just below my ear, taking in a deep breath as he did so. _'He's smelling me?'_ I thought shocked.

"Why are you smelling me?" I murmured self-consciously. "I can't imagine I smell pleasant." I hadn't had a shower since we got here and I was covered in sweat, sand and blood. That didn't exactly add up to the galaxies best smelling perfume.

"Mmm. You smell fine to me. _Perfectly_ fine." he breathed against my skin, hot air rushing over my chilled skin. I blushed deeply. He was fucking with my mind, he had to be.

"Well…a-are you done?" I asked cautiously, accidentally tripping over my words.

Riddick gave a rumbling laugh and pulled away only enough to look me straight in the eyes. "Do you I make you nervous…._Hailey_?" I shivered when he said my name. Maybe it was because he didn't actually say my name but whispered it sensually so close to my lips I could almost feel his own against them. It made the heat rise in my face even more. I could only imagine I looked like a tomato. I could see the amusement in his eyes and the sadistic smile creep over his lips.

"Only when you do that." I answered softly, truthfully.

He chuckled and moved to the opposite side of my neck, doing the same thing he had before, only adding a groan at the end. "What will you do if I get loose again? Hmm?" he asked, his mouth suddenly right next to my ear. "I'll come after you first."

I took a deep breath and turned my head to look at him. Again his eyes shined with mischief. "Why would you come after me?" I asked. On a braver note I added, "Do I intimidate you?"

Riddick threw his head back and laughed. "You? Intimidate me? Why would I be intimidated by little 'ole you?" His face was once again close to mine, our noses brushing against one another's.

"Because I'm not afraid of you." I stated calmly and clearly.

Riddick's smirk disappeared in an instant and he stared at me with an unreadable look, eyes flashing dangerously. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted.

"Hailey! I figured I would find you here." It was Doc. He looked anxiously between me and Riddick, unsure of what was going on and why we were so close. Scurrying over, he gently took me by the elbow and pulled me away from Riddick. The large criminal stared me down until I got to the door, slowly taking a seat.

"You shouldn't be around that man."Doc stated worriedly, as he continued to pull me over to where the three Arab boys were.

"I shouldn't be around Tina, Paul or Micah either, but they're here, too." I shot back.

Doc sighed and faced me, placing a hand on my cheek. "I know and I'm sorry. I didn't have a choice but to bring them along. I figured that we could get everything done in one shot."

I looked at the man in front of me thoughtfully. "I won't stay away, you know that right?" I asked.

Doc nodded his head. "Of course, I know. Just don't let that monster catch you." he told me, nodding at the group that had returned rather quickly. Doc and I watched as Johns, Fry, Imam and Shazza fought back and forth. Jack, seeing me on my feet, grinned widely and raced over to me. I smiled happily at the girl and opened my arms to her. "You're awake! I'm so glad!" she chirped as she jumped lightly into my arms. I could tell she was being mindful of my ankle and the fact that I might not be as steady as I look.

"Heh, thanks." I looked back up at the group when I noticed Johns fast movements towards the area that Riddick was tied up. "What are they doing?"

Jack, with arm around my waist still, watched the man disappear into the ship. "Fry went in the hole."

"She what?" I exclaimed, shooting the pilot a worried look. She seemed to be unhurt just a little shook up.

"Yeah, and apparently you were right, not that I didn't believe you," Jack added, "It wasn't Riddick that killed Zeke. There are monsters down there."

I nodded slowly. "So what is he going to do to Riddick?" Jack merely shrugged her shoulders. Fry and Shazza walked up to the three of us.

Fry, walking a little ahead of Shazza, smiled at me. "Good to see you're awake again. How's your head?" she asked.

I cocked an eyebrow, but returned the smile—although somewhat hesitantly. "Fine. I'm a toughie." I saw her glance down at my right wrist, which lay lightly on Jack's shoulder, but I slowly removed it from her sight. Shifting her gaze back to mine, I gave her a meaningful look. Nodding her head ever so slightly, she said nothing about it.

Jack laughed, "That's for sure." I grinned down at the girl. She was so cute! I always did want a younger sister. At least, one that was quite a bit younger than me. I do have a best friend who I consider to be a younger sister, but she's only a few months younger. I really missed her. I was supposed to see her when we docked, but apparently that wasn't going to happen any time in the near future.

Shazza stepped up and looked at me apologetically. "Look, Hailey, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

I scoffed and stared at her deadpanned. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. I got hurt because I was defending someone I happen to care about. DON'T," I snapped, holding a hand up to stop the comments I knew were coming, "ask me why I do. I don't know. But I do know this: he was completely innocent and all of you accused him just because of the things he did before he got here. You blamed him because he was an easy target."

The dark haired woman glared at me, "He's a murderer! What was I suppose to think? He had a shiv made of bone in his hand, for Christ sake!"

I crossed my arms and leaned back, cocking my right hip. I heard Doc sigh from my right. He knew I wasn't going to back down. "Tell me, Shazza, did the shiv have blood on it?"

She paused, "No. B-but he could have wiped it off!"

"On what? The sand? Because despite the fact that black is indeed a dark color, you can clearly see when there are signs of wetness. The only wet spots on his shirt were from sweat."

"W-w-I…" she stuttered, trying to find some reason to blame him, but discovered she really had nothing to go on other than his profession.

"Like I said: easy target."

Silence followed quickly as Shazza and I had a stare down, though I clearly was the more dominant one as she eventually averted her gaze to the floor. Fry stepped in not long after that, "Doc, did you find anything in the storage unit?" Everyone turned to look at the man, who nodded.

"Yes, we found a couple of useful items. Little things like blankets and changes of clothes. Also some medical supplies and tools for repairs." Doc told her.

Fry was silent for a moment, mulling over the information. "Good, grab that and meet in front of the ship. We're going to head out in a few minutes. We found a settlement and a water hole." Doc's face lit up as he heard about the water. Clearly someone was as excited about it as I was! I could finally clean up a bit!

"Did I hear you say water?" Paul asked, appearing out of nowhere with Tina at his side. Tina looked over at me, smirking and nudged Paul, who followed her gaze. I glared and walked away before anything could be said. I didn't want to deal with them at all. I was in high spirits because of the water and a chance for new scenery, I was not about to let them get under my skin. In fact, I wasn't going to let anything get under my skin.

BANG!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

I spoke too soon. I nearly lost my footing as the gunshot rang through the air. It was Johns' gun and he had gone in to talk to Riddick. _'He didn't kill him, did he?'_ I thought worriedly. My eyes started to water at the thought. I raced around to the front of the wreckage, praying that I wasn't right. Hoping I wasn't right. The more I thought of the possibility of the mysterious male being dead, the more my heart race and the faster I felt myself run. I was begging my legs to move just a little faster. I could feel my ankle burning in protest, but that didn't matter. I had to make it in time. I had to.

I was so concerned with getting there that when I rounded the corner, I didn't have time to stop myself from ramming straight into someone. Both of us crashed to the floor, though as soon as we did, I found myself suddenly flipped on my back. My breath caught when I saw who it was. Riddick. I was so happy I could have cried with joy. He didn't know this, of course, and I'm sure my out of breath, pale faced, teary-eyed self didn't look too good either. The man didn't say anything, though. Standing up, he put out a hand for me to grab, which I did. Riddick hauled me to my feet and straight into his chest. _'He doesn't seem to have a thing for personal space.'_ I thought sarcastically.

"Thank you." I muttered, averting my eyes from the black of his goggles. "Sorry for running into you." He gave a small nod and watched as I walked away towards the main cabin.

"Where do you think you're going?" I stopped and gave a passing glance to Johns, who materialized in front of me.

"None of your damn business, merc."I hissed. Johns made a move towards me, left arm extended. _'As if.'_ I scoffed internally. Grabbing the outstretched appendage, I easily swung him around and into the ship's wall, I twisted the arm in my hand the way he had mine and slammed my right knee into the wrist of his right arm.

"Bitch!" he sneered painfully.

Pulling on his arm and adding more pressure with my knee, I got real close to his ear, "How many times did you think I was going to let you abuse me, huh? Just a word of advice: don't assume all first impressions are correct. I may have come off as a weak, pathetic little girl, but let me reassure you there is only one man I'll ever admit to being afraid of. _One._ You, Johns, are not him." I slowly released him and backed up. "This little secret of yours, you being a merc, it's going to come out eventually. But don't worry. I gain nothing by telling the others. So it'll stay between you, me and Riddick for now." Johns watched me closely, a deadly glare darkening his icy blue eyes. I ended the staring contest and walked into the main cabin to gather my stuff.

Within minutes, everyone had gathered outside the main cabin piling the items we needed on top of the sled that Zeke once used to transport the bodies. I noticed the items that Doc had been talking about. There were at least four different blankets, two bags full of medical supplies and various other items. "Looks kind of heavy, don't you think?" Jack asked me, suddenly appearing at my side. I looked down at the girl and shrugged.

"Not if all of us, or at least some of us, help out. Most things look worse than they are. You just have to approach it differently." I said, smiling as Jack grinned and nodded.

"Like a team!"

I nodded and chuckled, "Yeah, just like a team."

I felt the air shift behind me and watched as a long shadow was cast to my left. "Not for you. You and your injured ankle need rest. We can't have you falling behind everyone. We have to stick together." Jack and I turned to face Carolyn. She had a sincere look in her eyes that I couldn't deny. She and I both knew that straining my already injured ankle was only going to make things worse.

"Alright, but who is going to pull this thing? I noticed the three boys carrying the power cell." I asked, nodding my head in the direction of the Arab boys, who were all talking to Imam.

"Riddick." Johns stated as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. I sighed, but didn't say anything. Arguing was futile with the merc. The blond man cocked and eyebrow when I said nothing and stepped forward to place the back of his hand on my forehead. "You feelin' alright? You didn't have some amazingly witty comment to come back with."

Jerking my head away from his hand I walked around him, Jack in tow, giving him an annoyed look, "Want me to make one?"

The man merely laughed and walked away, shaking his head as he went. I frankly didn't know what was so damn funny. I didn't like him touching me, number one, and I just didn't feel like coming back with a witty comment, number two. So shoot me. Can't be funny all the time.

Nothing eventful happened after that. Everyone realized it wasn't going to be a short trip, so everyone hunkered down and dealt with it. Imam, Fry and Paris walked a head of the group, the three Chrislam boys in the middle carrying the power cell, Micah, Tina, Paul and Doc followed behind them, and Johns, Shazza and Jack walked a head of me. I could hear Riddick behind me dragging the sled, grunting here and there when he ran into a snag of some sort. Chancing a look back at him, I saw his gaze on the floor, a concentrated look on his handsome face. He had sucked in his lower lip, using his upper teeth to hold it in place, and I watched the bulging muscles in his arms tense as he tightened his grip around the metal coil of the chain that linked the sled to him. He had the chain thrown over his body diagonally. From the look of it, the shiny silver metal seemed to be cutting into his right shoulder. I stared amazed at the man, the way he could do something as simple as pull a sled and yet look so damn sexy doing it.

"See something you like?" he asked, his shaved head jerking up to catching me staring.

It took me a moment to find my tongue and get the useless muscle working again. "W-well, I was just checking up on you." I stated.

Riddick raised an eyebrow, "Oh, really? Making sure I didn't run off again?"

I snorted and crossed my arms, "No. Actually I wanted to ask if you needed help." I said indignantly. I wasn't like Johns. I rather liked Riddick loose as opposed to him being chain up like an animal.

I heard the criminal chuckle lowly, a smirk growing on his handsome visage, "'Sokay, sweetheart. I got it." I flushed at him calling me 'sweetheart' and turned my head away from the man quickly to hide the fact I was blushing. I didn't know why I allow him to get to me so easily. There was just something about him. "Plus, I'm enjoying the view from here."

Turning my head I caught sight of him staring at my ass before lifting his head deliberately slow to meet my gaze, licking his lips as he did so. I can't deny that him teasing me that way turned me on and cause my stomach to feel fluttery, but I wasn't going to let Riddick know what he was doing to me. Instead, I snapped my head in the direction we were walking with 'humph' muttering something about men and their heads.

"So, just click your fingers, and he's one of us now?" Shazza asked, her obvious annoyance that the convict was let free was as clear as day.

I hadn't realized I had gotten so close to them. Shazza and Johns were only a few feet in front of me, Jack trailing behind them slightly. "I didn't say that," Johns replied, I could hear the smirk in his voice, "but at least this way, I don't have to worry about y'all, uh, falling asleep and not waking up." Shazza didn't say anything to that, only gave him an unconvinced looked, pursing her lips in displeasure.

Jack suddenly ran up to Shazza's side, her cute yellow and black goggles covering her eyes. _'Someone's got a role model.'_ I snickered to myself. "So, can I talk to him now?" her voice was so hopeful it made me smile in amusement. I had heard about her brave little conversation with Riddick from Fry. Fry could see how close I was to Jack and had relayed the information onto me in hopes that I would keep the child away from the man. _'Kind of hard to do that when I, myself, can't seem to stay away.'_ I mused.

"No." Shazza and Johns snapped in unison. Jack sighed and slowed down considerably until she was walking side by side with me.

"Not fair." she whispered.

I laughed and patted the girl on the shoulder. "Don't worry," I told her, "You'll have plenty of opportunities now that he's no longer on a leash."

Jack just shook her head grimly, "But they won't let me anywhere near him."

Smirking to myself, I leaned down close the girl's ear, "Then don't get caught."

Jack busted out laughing and grinned widely. "You got it!" Then after a moment, she gave me a soft smile, "You know, you're really cool. I don't know why Tina and Paul are so mean to you. You'd be the best older sister ever!" She gave me a quick hug, waved and ran off towards the front of the group where Fry was. I watched her run off in awe. It had been such a long time since anyone had said something so nice to me. It felt good to know that I made someone else happy.

"You're fallin' behind." My blue eyes shot to my left as Riddick slowly passed me, granting me a huge smirk. "Can't catch a view if you're behind me."

I snorted as well, but grinned despite myself. "Nope, but I can." I muttered, letting my eyes roam. Riddick turned his head back and grinned at me, letting me know he'd heard me. I merely rolled my eyes and offered a goofy smile, to which he chuckled at. I decided I liked walking behind everyone else. Not _just_ because I got an amazing view of Riddick's ass, but because I could walk at my own pace. Which, let me tell you, was nice when you're ankle burns like a bitch. Of course, it was also the best spot in the house for comic relief, too. I watched as Paris jerked his arms up to place a strange red cap on his balding head causing one of his prized bottles of alcohol to slip out of his shoulder bag, land in the soft sand and slide down the short hill. He cursed and turned to run back for it, Fry momentarily glancing back at the British man. Just as he reached the bottle, sliding on his knees as he did so, Riddick's large hand dropped down on the bottle. Paris froze like a frightened bunny rabbit and look up into the black goggles of the mass murder. I must say, the deer in the head lights look covering his face was priceless. I walked cautiously up behind them, making sure not to stand too close as to draw attention to myself, but close enough so I could watch the spectacle with ease. Both men slowly stood up, each staring at the other. Of course, Riddick's expression was that of caution and calculation, while Paris on the other hand fought to gulp down his fear and look slightly composed. I snickered silently as I watched Paris lick his chapped lips nervously and wipe his most likely sweaty hands on his shirt as he introduced himself.

"Paris P. Ogilvie." he announced, sticking a nervous hand out to Riddick, who watched him in obvious amusement. "Antiquities dealer, entrepreneur."

Riddick switched the bottle from his right hand to his left so he could grasp Paris's outstretched hand firmly. Placing as friendly a smile on his face as he could, he responded, "Richard B. Riddick." I thought he was going to stop there, but alas, his mischievous mind had other plans. A sarcastic tone took over as did an equally sarcastic smile, "Escaped convict, murderer." Paris looked away, clearly disturbed and uncomfortable. He looked back at Riddick warily when he heard the cork to his bottle being popped out.

"That's-that's a particularly good Shiraz. It's-it's a lovely drop." he stuttered out as Riddick lifted the bottle of ruby red liquid to his lips, quickly gulping the contents down, no stopping in sight. "It's—it's very expensive. By all means, please help yourself." the man said exasperatedly, giving up, turning around and sauntering off sadly.

Riddick smacking his lips together loudly—happily. "You're right, it is good." he smirked, tossing the now empty bottle aside.

Rolling my eyes skyward, I chuckled as I picked up the discarded bottle. "You shouldn't be so mean to the man. He's actually quite nice."

Riddick looked back at me, "Oh, yeah. Just like the rest of them."

I sighed and shook my head at him. "Are you expecting anything from them?"

The man shrugged his massive shoulders, "Are you?"

I gave a short laugh and went to reply, however, I was cut off. "Picking up after convicts now, eh?" I jerked my head slightly to the right to see Paul and Tina watching me through condescending eyes. Both had smirks stretching to their ears.

"Or is it that you're so smitten with the convict, you're collecting his goodies?" Tina chimed in as well. She sauntered over to Riddick, running a slender finger down his well toned chest. "I mean, I can see why you'd like him. Well toned, muscled, smooth tanned skin. Handsome." she listed, dragging her fingers up his chest and down his arm, slowly, teasingly. Seeing her touch him that way made my blood boil. Seeing her touch him at all, look at him at all, made me want to just jump her right there and start wailing on the girl. But who was I kidding? _'He's not even mine. If she wanted him, she could easily take him. At least it wouldn't be like Paul. She just outright took him out from under me. Turned him into a monster.'_ I thought dejectedly, casting my eyes to the floor.

Apparently not liking how 'friendly' Tina was getting with Riddick, who hadn't reacted at all, Paul stalked up to me, grabbing me roughly by the hair on the back of my scalp and wrapping the other arm around my waist so that his hand could grab my ass harshly, "Be that as it may," he stated, enunciating each word separately, his lips gliding up my neck to my ear, "He's nothing but a nobody at the end of the day. Just like you." Paul's eyes shifted to me. I could tell without even looking up. I could feel them boring into my skull as I continued to look away. Deciding he'd had enough of my avoidance, he released my ass and grabbed my fresh wound on my wrist and squeezed just like he had in the storage unit. "So perfect for each other. A convict and a mental patient. A match made in heaven, wouldn't you say?"

And then he was gone, Tina dragging him away, an evil grin on her lips. Just like that. Just like before. Flashes of a burning house, Paul standing above me, screams in the background, the feeling of my own blood leaving my battered and broken body. Shaking my head to clear the images, I placed a shaky hand over my wrist and continued walking towards the settlement. Leaving Riddick behind with whatever thoughts he had.

The settlement was rather large. And rather vacant. It was disturbing to say the least. It honestly looked like whoever was here before had just vanished one day out of the blue. All of their things were left behind, clothes on hangers, pictures on shelves, work half finished. _'People don't just disappear.'_ I thought, an eerie feeling taking over. We had reached the settlement maybe an hour before, everyone set everything down and decided to take a breather. I hadn't wanted to stick around, not wanting to be around Tina or Paul, so I wandered off into the settlement, looking here or there at the abandoned homes and work places. I had taken refuge inside one of the homes and wandered into a back area, not bothering to open the shades above my head. The darkness was welcoming and felt good against my hot skin. I'd be surprised if I didn't have a sun burn by the end of things.

"You shouldn't wander off alone." I jumped at Riddick's voice, looking towards the doorway where he stood watching me. I could see a bag in his hand, but wasn't entirely sure as to what it was. The light from outside created too large of a shadow. The only things I could see were his shinning silver-blue eyes. Riddick stepped into the room, using his foot to shut the door behind him. The only light came from the cracks in the shades, which were so small only slivers of light poked through, thus engulfing me in near darkness. I blinked and looked around the dark room confused. Riddick had slipped into the deep shadows of the room, out of my sight. I sucked in my breath when his hand melted out of the shadows and dragged me to my feet. In a heartbeat I felt the wall against my back and his warm breath over my lips.

"Riddick."


	6. Chapter 6

"Riddick." I mumbled lowly, my eyes drifting from his own silver orbs to his lips and back.

The man smirked, eyes boring into mine. "I thought I told you to take care of that wrist?" he drawled, cocking his head to one side. "Now you have two injured wrists."

I stared at him briefly, trying hard to find my voice. It was hard when he was so close. "I-I did. I took care of the one you told me to and Doc did the other one."

Riddick clicked his tongue and slid his large hands down my arms to my wrists. Inspecting them he lifted an eyebrow. "You call this 'taken care of'?" I shrugged and looked away. "I call this half-assed." he said lowly into my ear. Jerking me down he forced me to sit as he picked up a box I hadn't noticed beside him. A medical box. I had no idea he had even brought one into the room with him. Neither of us said anything as he unwrapped my wounds.

Riddick pursed his lips. "You call that "taking care" of it? You wrapped it, so what? It needs stitches. Both of them do." I gulped. I didn't know how I felt about someone other than a trained professional handling my medical care. Riddick didn't wait for me to say anything. He pulled a needle out of the pack along with some string and threaded it. The man gripped my wrist tightly so I wouldn't mess him up as he began the slow arduous process of stitching me back together. It hurt like hell, let me tell you. No anesthetics this time around. Nope just good ole' pain! It most definitely was _not_ one of those 'hurts so good' moments. I don't give a shit how hot the guy stitching you is, it doesn't numb the fucking pain.

Riddick made quick work of both my wrists, wrapping them up with fresh bandages when he was done. I nearly laughed when he tossed the needle behind him uncaringly. His large hand placed itself on my right knee, slowly making its way down until he reached my still swollen ankle. Riddick pulled my boot off gently as well as my sock, discarding it to some unknown corner, much to my displeasure. I shivered as his fingers brushed over my injury, the calluses on his fingers driving me insane. I couldn't tell you what color or how big the stupid thing was, but Riddick breathed harshly through his nose in what I could only assume was annoyance. "You run on this much more and you'll be crawling from now on." he told me.

"That bad, huh?" I chuckled. "A major sprain, then?"

"Well, it's certainly not broken, is it?" he shot back, eyes meeting mine defiantly.

I shrugged, "I wouldn't know the difference really."

Riddick stilled and studied me a moment, "What do you mean?"

"I have dulled pain receptors. They were essentially destroyed a while back, so I can't really tell what's a bad injury and what isn't. I broke my arm once trying to escape through a second story window, didn't even bat an eyelash. However, when I pulled the muscle in my leg trying to scale the fence those fuckers caught me on, I felt that for months. Spent three months in a wheel chair. Sucked." I told him casually.

Riddick looked down at my ankle a moment before starting to wrap it tight enough to give it some stability. "I was wondering why you didn't make a noise when that thing got you. Makes sense now." There was a brief silence until he finished, at which point he shoved the remaining wad of bandages into the medical bag and shoved the thing away from the two of us. The man sat back, eyes on me, and crossed his arms. "So," he starts. I already knew he's going to ask about Paul and Tina and what the hell that horseshit was, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to say anything about it. "What happened to tough little girl from before? You slam Johns into a wall yet cower from a _boy_."

This time I scoffed, "Yeah, well that _boy_ is a lot worse than you think he is."

"He's the one, huh?" Riddick drawled mockingly, "Scrawny, twenty-something little brat's got you running scared with your tail between your legs? He's the one you're scared of? Not a ruthless bounty hunter who'd just as soon put a bullet between your eyes as he would help you out of your clothes. Not a murder on the run, who knows what move you'll make before you make it."

I glared at the handsome fucker across from me. "If you're going to make fun of me, I'll leave." I hissed. Anger boiled my blood at his absolute disregard for how I felt. What the fuck would he care anyway? He didn't know me from Adam. I was probably nothing more than a something to play with, something to tease to pass the time. Riddick cocked his head to the side in a fashion that I almost wanted to call cute. Almost. Cute just ain't the right word.

"Nah," he said, shaking his head, huge shit-eating grin on his face. "I think you're going to keep that tight, round little ass of yours parked right where it is." I couldn't help the blush that rampaged across my face. He really had been staring at my ass the entire way to the settlement. I almost felt bad for not returning the favor. "I'm waiting," he said.

My eyes diverted away from his and up to the slits in the blinds. "For what?" I asked. Of course I knew. I wasn't stupid. Just trying to keep the conversation from turning on to delicate matters.

"For my explanation." Riddick all but growled. That voice of his did funny things to me. My stomach flipped and fluttered at the rumbling of that deep bass voice of his. There was a warning there, too. Buried under the seductive rumbling was a warning tone. I just chose to ignore it.

"I don't want talk about it." I deflected instantly, gaze in my lap and fingers fiddling nervously.

I had enough time to register the growl that rumbled out of him before I found myself on my back. I yelped when my head collided with the floor harshly. I blinked in utter confusion through the pounding of my headache, barely grasping the fact that Riddick's large hand was clasped around my knee. A moment later, I squeaked as I was jerked towards the massive man who caged my small body with his. I came to a stop eye to eye with him, his hand on the left side of my head supporting him as he towered over me. His face was inches from mine and I could see the snarl on his face. "I didn't ask if you were willing to talk about it. I want to know where _this _came from." The hand that had been on my knee was suddenly beneath my shirt. I felt his calloused fingers run over a scar that ran from my shoulder blade around to my hip. His fingers moved across my skin to another scar that stretched from just above my belly button to just above the valley of my breasts. "And this one," he grumbled, dipping his head to my neck. His nose traced its way down to my shoulder where yet another scar decorated my skin. "You get the point, I hope."

I shook my head frantically. My body was already shivering from the onslaught of memories that were rushing back. The more Riddick caressed my scars, the more I remembered. "I-I can't." I whimpered, still shaking my head. I felt like such a baby. Like such a weakling.

"But you will," Riddick said nonchalantly, big hand clamping down on my chin to hold my head in place. "You see, I've got this theory. You, the bimbo, and the scrawny kid all got history. All got something that connects you. I heard what Doc told Johns. You're the yahoo, they're the jail-birds, and that pompous dickhead is your _daddy._ I think—," he went to continue, but I cut him off viciously.

"He is NOT my father," I spat, "He's a good-for-nothing, selfish, look-to-thine-own-ass, condescending, sperm donor! He wouldn't know the first thing about being a _dad_. He's not even qualified to be a _father._" Riddick merely raised an eyebrow at my outburst. I was panting by the end of my rant and angry as fuck. I knew my face was flushed, but not from Riddick. Not this time. Averting my eyes I let my head roll to one side and sighed in defeat. "I never had a dad. Doc's about as close as I get to an actual male father figure. My mother was my dad. She had to play both roles my entire life cuz that lowlife scum walked out on her for another woman when I was three. Not once in those first three years, fuck! Any of the years of my life has that man _ever_ been a _dad._ He didn't even want me to begin with."

"How is it your mother's so great and yet you're a loony?" Riddick inquired, eyes glinting in the darkness. He was taking in every emotion that crossed my face.

"She's dead." I stated simply. Riddick moved to the side and sat beside me instead of hovering over me. I just kept lying on the floor. Half of me was comfortable; the other half was just too fuckin' lazy to sit up. "You wanna know so fuckin' bad? Really?"

Riddick shrugged, "You're an intriguing person, Hailey. Enlighten me." I could hear the sarcasm in his voice and yet it clashed so heavily with the humor in his eyes. I could tell my stalling was getting old, but this was a hard topic for me. In all honesty I hadn't spoke about the events that led to my hospitalization for nearly three years.

"Fine," I relented. "Christ," I sighed, running my hands over my face, "They killed my mom and her long-time fiancé, Warren, while attempting to kill me. My mom and Warren screwed everything up for them. They were supposed to go on vacation. Yeah, they'd be gone during my birthday, but they needed some time to themselves, so I told them just to go. They surprised me by coming home early the day of my birthday. Told me they didn't want to miss it." My throat seized up for a moment and I had to fight back the tears that I knew were coming. "I wish they had."

"They just randomly decided to kill your parents and you?" Riddick questioned.

I shook my head. "Is it ever that simple?"

He shrugged, "It is for me."

I rolled my eyes and gave him an amused smirk, "I'm sure," I chuckled, "Paul and I dated for a year. I was fifteen when I met him and we started dating not long afterwards. He was so different back then. A good guy. At first anyway. In the last couple months of our relationship, he turned into someone I didn't know anymore. It was almost an overnight change. He became physically and verbally violent with me. At first the physical stuff wasn't directly _at_ me—more of just _around_ me. He'd throw things out of frustration, punch or kick the wall or whatever surface was around me or near him. A lot of getting up in my face and screaming at me. It wasn't until I stood up for myself once that he actually hit me for the first time. Once he started, he didn't stop. He was convinced I was going behind his back with other guys. I tried to tell him it wasn't true, but he'd call me a liar and that was the end of it. Eventually I broke up with him and then avoided him like the fuckin' plague. I'm still surprised that I managed it. Tina was quick in replacing me and everything suddenly made so much sense. She was the reason for his change in behavior, his believing I'd cheated on him and she made sure I knew it, too. She loved rubbing her victory in my face."

Riddick scoffed and shook his head almost mockingly, "You must have really pissed her off." I cocked an eyebrow at the man trying to gauge if he was taking this seriously.

I finally shrugged and replied, "I guess. We'd been best friends at one point in time. I was bullied constantly and had to change my route going home on a daily basis. It worked for a month or so, but then they'd show up at every turn…everyday. Tina was always there to comfort me or come to my rescue. It took me a while to put two and two together, and really until I overheard her talking to one of them about which way I was taking home that day, that I finally confronted her. She told me she just felt like screwing with me, because I'm so gullible. She even let me know that she'd been "experimenting" with me since we were super young. So all of my tormenting and all of the things the bullies ever did or said, they were because of her. Because she was bored and I was the perfect cure for that boredom. I wrote her off at that point and never looked back. She likes to fuck with people, plain and simple. She's like that kid that likes to torture puppies for shits and giggles. I knew it was trait of her, I'd seen her do things to others, but I never thought she'd turn those traits on me. I wasn't her only victim, like I've said, but I was her favorite choice. I never really reacted to anything she did, not after the event that ended our relationship. Not even with Paul.

The two of them tormented me for six months. I took some major beatings during that time. Paul may be scrawny, but he can pack a punch. It's not like I didn't fight back. I did, but it always made my beatings that much worse. My parents found out about it when my mother walked in on me undressing for a shower. She had been so angry, I remember. She marched into the school the next day with Warren, who had managed to scrounge up some kids who witnessed a number of my attacks. They humiliated Paul and Tina in front of most of the student body and staff by confronting them. My parents had pretty much stated they were lousy excuses for human beings and shit-stains like them wouldn't ever amount to anything in life. The school severely punished Tina and Paul from what I heard. My parents moved us to a completely different city, so I never got to see what happened to the two of them. I actually didn't even see them until my birthday.

I had been asleep when it happened. There was a crash downstairs and the alarm was screaming. My parents had made me stay upstairs while they checked it out. Warren was the first to get attacked. I heard him hollering belligerently, my mother was freaking out and that's when she got hurt, I guess. I never saw any of it. All I know was they were still alive and conscious when the house was set on fire. I had been standing at the top of the stairs when I saw him. Paul seemed to come out of the smoke like a ghost or some shit. Just appeared out of nowhere. He was up the stairs and after me in a matter of seconds. I didn't get far." My hand unconsciously fingered a scar that was hidden by my jeans on the back of my knee. "He sliced the back of my leg so I couldn't run and then dragged me to the top of the stairs where he threw me down them. I think there was a fraction of second where I was air born before I collided and rolled down them. I can still faintly remember the pain of my ribs cracking and my arm breaking when it rolled under me. By the time I was at the bottom of the staircase I was in bad shape. My arm had been snapped in two places, I knew my several of my ribs were broken, I was having a hard time breathing, and my knee cap was dislocated. I was honestly surprised I hadn't snapped my neck. The way I had landed I shouldn't have been able to get up, but I saw them a couple feet away from me. My parents. Warren had multiple stab wounds to his back and my mom was in no better shape. They were alive and dying slowly. I could see it in their eyes. They were just far enough away from each other that their extended fingers could only barely brush against the tips. I don't know how I did it, adrenaline most likely, but I managed to push myself up and start crawling over to them. Tina came out at that point. I had seen my mother's eyes shift behind me and that's really the only reason I was able to avoid being impaled."

This time my fingers brushed the first scar Riddick had touched, "I managed to roll out of the way. While I didn't get impaled, the blade still got me. She and I struggled for what seemed like forever before Paul appeared and pinned me to the floor with a knife through my shoulder." My fingers touched the scar in the hollow of my shoulder, "Tina tried to attack me again with her knife. I only barely managed to kick her back in time to keep her from dissecting me. That's how I got this one." I gestured to the longest of the scars. "Everything is kinda fuzzy from there. Kept going in and out of consciousness. We somehow ended up outside. Paul woke me from another bout of unconsciousness by stabbing me in the shoulder again, hence the fucked up 'X' mark. I was too delirious at that point. I barely even registered when Tina slit my wrists and put the knife in my hand. The very last thing I remember before waking up in the hospital was Tina and Paul standing above me and the screams of my parents as they were burned alive."

There was silence in our dark little room. I turned my head to look over at Riddick only to find him staring intently at me. "So there you have it. The tale of a loony bird. Happy now?"

Riddick cocked his head to the side. "Doesn't explain how you landed in the nut house. You were the victim, were you not?"

I laughed, "Yeah, right. Depends on who you talk to. Some would tell you I was a sick little rich girl who cracked one day and decided to chop up my parents and turn them into charcoal. Only they put up a fight and I got severally injured in the process and decided it would be easier to end my pathetic excuse of a life then face the consequences. Others will tell you I was a suicide waiting to happen because of my traumatic experience. The slices on my wrists were enough evidence of that. I had fought with the attackers and survived but couldn't handle the fact my parents were dead because of me."

"And if I talk to Doc, he'd tell me you were the surviving victim of both a brutal double homicide and vindictive planning, that right?" Riddick drawled, sitting up and draping his forearms over his knees. "Why didn't you tell them it was Paul and Tina?"

I rolled my eyes and glared at him, "I did." I snapped. "There wasn't any evidence. All circumstantial."

Riddick shrugged, palms out, "But they're headed for slam, so there must be."

"Yeah, in the night shirt I was wearing. The tech's must have thought all the blood was mine, however, when I finally told Doc my side of the story, it came to light that was not the case." I replied with my own shrug.

Again with the silence. It was longer this time and I was beginning to get uncomfortable. He just kept staring at me like he was trying to figure something out. "Riddick?" He didn't reply, only stared at me intensely for a moment more before crawling back over to me. His massive body framed mine once again and my heart started racing with anticipation. Now, anticipation of what, I sure as fuck didn't know, but I didn't mind the sensation. Riddick's hand trailed down to my hips and then disappeared for a moment. A second later I nearly jumped as I felt more than heard the fabric of my jeans being torn open by the blade in his hand. "R-Riddick!" I snapped thrusting my hands up to slam into his chest. "What the fuck are you doing?"

He merely grinned at me as he did the same to the other leg, "You won't be needing these pants anymore. Too constricting for that ankle. Doc gave me a bag." He jerked his head over in the direction of said bag, though I didn't look. I figured it was the bag I saw in his hand when he entered the room initially. I couldn't take my eyes off of the man above me. "Has a change of clothes in it. Thought I'd help you in to 'em. Wouldn't want the _boy_ finding you in such a…compromising state." There was something coy about the look in his eyes as he watched me humorously. That damned hand of his pushed the ruined fabric of my jeans off of my legs, allowing his calloused fingers to drag down my skin.

"R-Riddick," I muttered weakly, heat flushing my cheeks and my breathing getting heavier. I'd never been with a man, ever, but if I had my choice…well, I think that's pretty obvious.

"Tch," he scoffed, a smirk pulling his lips up, "I told you, didn't I?" I gave him a confused look, to which he shook his head. Leaning closer, nose to nose, lips barely an inch apart, his eyes bored into mine as he growled out, "I told you I'd come after you first." Riddick crushed his lips over mine. My hands slipped up from his chest, one to his neck and the other to the side of his face, as I kissed back with just as much passion. He slipped a hand into my hair and roughly pulled my lips back as he started down my neck, inhaling first and then trailing hot, wet kisses down my pale, sensitive skin.

* * *

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has pushed me to get this chapter out. While I know most people give shout outs to specific people, I'm not one to name names. Those of you who have added me to your watch list and/or favorite list, thank you so much! Those of you have reviewed and or pm'd me, thank you so much! And to those who have done all the above, a special thank you, to you! Honestly, every single one of you are my inspirations and I couldn't have written this chapter without your support and kind words. I can't give you a promise to the date of the next post, but I will hopefully have it out before the end of November. Fingers crossed, my dears, fingers crossed!

Thanks again! 3

Anearlyending


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